This is a balance Mod with the following features:no +skills on gear (too hard to balance).most uniques and runewords toned down (dramatically)most rune bonuses cranked up to compensateuniques renamed to rares, and rares renamed to uniques (when was the last time you saw two rares that were the same?).

Reduction in item types (how many different kinds of sword and polearm do you need anyway)May drastically reduce number of class weapons (e.g. claws) - this is to free up item states for later on.

Other item changes to drastically reduce benefit of using BugY (e.g. recipe to convert one set item into another set item of your choice). Mac users rejoice.Also recipes to convert runes and gems into other forms of equipment.Prefix and Suffix pool twiddled to de-emphasise gear based ED%.No ethereals (they are too easily broken)

Drastically reduce sources of poison as poison is one of the harder things to balanceAdd magic damage to end of act bosses attacks to make them a challenge again

Mercs crippled - actually force people to play the game themselves (considering drastically boosting their defense/tankage and in compensation radically reducing their offensive capabilities, and giving them a speed penalty)

The following class changes

Sorceror renamed to Magician because noone can spell Sercerer properlyreshuffle synergies to benefit skills which are currently not used:e.g. Hydra, Blaze, Inferno, Frost Nova, Thunderstorm, Lightning, Telekinesisat the expense of spells which are over used:e.g. Blizzard, Meteor, Frozen OrbFire Bolt, Ice Bolt, Charged Bolt all to leave trails of elemental damageChain Lightning replaced by Chaos LightningCold Armours significantly beefed up

Assassin renamed to Ninja, because that is what they really aremost charge up skills effective at 2 charges for maximum benefit to encourage dual claw wieldingBlade Sentinel renamed to Boomerang and damage increased (both flat and %)All Sentries/Wakes except Lightning and Death greatly improvedSynergies moved around to de-emphasize Lightning and Death SentryMind Blast and Psychic Hammer cross synergizing (and Psychic Hammer greatly improved, spawns Blessed Hammers on hit)Venom replaced Poison damage with rainbow damage and renamed to Fluffy BunniesBase run/walk speed of Ninja greatly reduced (it is hard to be sneaky when running) to make Burst of Speed more attractive Blade Shield pulse frequency to increase with more skill points

Druid renamed to VampireRaven animations replaced with BatsBear replaced with Hell HoundShape Shifting tab renamed to Gangrel etcElemental Tab radically redone to fit Vampire theme (may 'borrow' ideas from some other mods for this) e.g. Blood Spells which cost life to castCombat skills to emphasize life leech, open wounds and other blood related abilities Various creepers/vines to spawn effects (weaken, life tap and lower resist respectively) and you can have more than one creeper at a timeSpirit of Barbs greatly increased to match improvements to Thorns and Iron Maiden

AmazonTurn Guided Arrow/Pierce combo back on because that rockedRename Lightning Strike to Chaos Strike - also Increase number of missiles spawned and reduce NDReturn Plague Javelin to increasing radius with extra skill pointsLightning Bolt to spawn Lightning Walls perpendicular to its flight pathRearrange dependencies so that Lightning and Poison Javelin skills are independentDecoy to pulse Attract on random target

BarbarianLeap renamed Jump JetsLeap Attack renamed Death From Above (Battletech players represent!)Tweak throwing to improve it because it looks goodAlso increase duration of Frenzy because when it wears off so quickly it is annoying

NecromancerCombat Benefits when using wandsSummoning Tab renamed to Accio# of Skeletons and Mages returned to 1 per pointIron Maiden renamed to Crucio and combos turned back on (because IM rules)Summon Golems renamed to Expecto PatronusBone Spirit renamed to Avada KedavraCorpse Explosion renamed to ConfringoConfusion renamed to ConfundoI will do something to Bone Armour make it worthwhile putting points intoetc

If the point of this thread was just to be an announcement, please ignore this post

If it was posted to garner feedback, carry on.

Stormbringer wrote:no +skills on gear (too hard to balance).most uniques and runewords toned down (dramatically)most rune bonuses cranked up to compensateuniques renamed to rares, and rares renamed to uniques (when was the last time you saw two rares that were the same?).

Sounds interesting.I particularly liked Rare <-> Unique.

Stormbringer wrote:Reduction in item types (how many different kinds of sword and polearm do you need anyway)May drastically reduce number of class weapons (e.g. claws) - this is to free up item states for later on.

+1 to the 1st.

My problem with class-specific items:They're generally markedly better then any 'equivalent' item.And since D2 is all about maxmaxmaxing your capabilities, any non-class-specific goes unused, contributing to #1.

Stormbringer wrote:Other item changes to drastically reduce benefit of using BugY (e.g. recipe to convert one set item into another set item of your choice).

Imba?Drop-rate aside, there's the issue of base-item drops, in the first place.Unless I'm mis-reading is, this would make that a non-issue, for better or worse.

Stormbringer wrote:No ethereals

Really? I thought they were hardcoded to 0.5% (iirc).

Stormbringer wrote:Increase level requirements for skills from 1,6,12,18,24,30 to 10,20,30,40,50,60

Personally, I don't like this.Actually, I dislike level-locks in general.(They detract from (any) game, imho.i.e. "Phew! That monster / quest / boss was tough!But I got it! ^_^And, hey! Look at this amazing weapon / armor / spell that I got from it!...Which I can't use?!")

Of course, they're there to counter twinking.

Back on topic:So, assuming clvl 99 as max, you've gone through 2/3 of the game with a crippled skill-set?I mean,

if the higher-tier skills are wa-a-a-ay better then the lower ones, the lower ones will be eclipsed (see <Element> bolt).And (unless you advocate using PlugY's respec,) since # points in a skill =/= # points in synergy, (especially without +skills) you're basically "dooming" any player, to play through the game with 1pt.ers.Not my idea of a good time.

Which would leave you the sticky proposition of trying to make them just enough better they they're worth using: Not so much better that they eclipse the lower tier skills, but not not-better-enough, which, combined with the lateness at which you gain access to them, will lead to their being ignored.

This may counteract my above sentiments, but I'd have to see it in-game to get an idea of it.

Stormbringer wrote:Mercs crippled

This is good.Since Merc AI is stupid, it's a numbers game.Either the merc is strong enough to tank / kill / survive the monsters - in which case you need do nothing but wait - or it isn't, in which case, wth is it there except as a gold-sink? (In which case people will just not use mercs).

FYI, (in case you don't,) unless you're planning on using the Bloodmana state, *which makes all skills cast life instead of mana,* the only simple missile and novas can have lifedrain attached to them, afaik.

Stormbringer wrote:Combat skills to emphasize life leech, open wounds and other blood related abilities

The problem with OW is that its damage is hard-coded, and sucks.But, it disables monster regen, so it's not a total loss.

Demon9ne wrote:please rename "level" to "awesomeness" so when I'm describing my character to people they know what's up.

Yesss! Haha!

I agree with level-locking nonsense. bah!With Immersion, I play a crippled character and save all my skill points, and pour my stats into energy, so in mid-teens I can get awesome abilities.I like being able to do that.